Built in 1936, the Fairview City Hall is part of the Public Works Buildings Thematic Resource nomination and is significant because it helps document the impact of New Deal programs in Utah, which was one of the states that the Great Depression of the 1930s most severely affected. In 1933 Utah had an unemployment rate of 36 percent, the fourth highest in the country, and for the period 1932-1940 Utah’s unemployment rate averaged 25 percent. Because the depression hit Utah so hard, federal programs were extensive in the state. Overall, per capita federal spending in Utah during the 1930s was 9th among the 48 states, and the percentage of workers on federal work projects was far above the national average. Building programs were of great importance. During the 1930s virtually every public building constructed in Utah, including county courthouses, city halls, fire stations, national guard armories, public school buildings, and a variety of others, were built under federal programs by one of several agencies, including the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the National Youth Administration (NYA), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), or the Public Works Administration (PWA), and almost without exception none of the buildings would have been built when they were without the assistance of the federal government.
I was reading here that apparently it was demolished and then the some stone was used to rebuild it exactly the same from the exterior, with updated interiors.
The Fairview City Hall is one of 232 buildings constructed in Utah during the 1930s and early 1940s under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and other New Deal programs. Of those 232 buildings, 133 are still standing and are eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. This is one of 22 city halls built, 19 of which are still standing. In Sanpete County 17 buildings were constructed, 13 of which remain.
Related Posts:
- New Deal Funded Projects in Utah
The local newspaper recorded the construction of the building as follows. “Work has just begun on the new Fairview City Hall and library to be built at Fairview as a government aid project.
“It will be a two-story building and will be constructed of sawed native rock, known as blue sandstone. The building will be erected on Main Street on the corner lot south of the amusement hall and will have accommodations for city hall, library, jail, Legion hall, kitchen and serving room and two rest rooms. “Thirteen men will be employed during January and 20 from then until June when it is expected the project will be completed, said Oscar Amundsen, foremen. “The plans for the building were drawn by Hugh Anderson of Fairview. $10,000 was appropriated for the building but this amount is not enough to complete the project, stated Mr. Amundsen “‘ Little is known about the construction careers of Oscar Amundsen and Hugh Anderson. This building has continued to the present to serve as the city hall and library for the town of Fairview. ” – Mt Pleasant Pyramid, Jan 31, 1936, p.1.
The Fairview City Hall, built in 1936, is a one-story stone building with a basically square plan, a raised basement, and a flat roof. There have been no major alterations made to the building.
This building represents an excellent example of the stark, abstract classicism associated with the PWA Moderne architectural style in Utah. The principal facade is symmetrically divided into three bays. The central bay is narrower and contains the front door, while the flanking bays have slightly wider windows on both the main and basement levels. The windows are Palladian-inspired and tripartite, and are topped by elliptical fanlights. A similar arch is found over the front entrance. Openings on the sides and rear are simple rectangles. The building is constructed of the local oolite limestone, finely dressed to a smooth ashlar surface. A band of low-relief dentils run beneath the cement coping at the edge of the roof. A very small concrete block addition was built on the rear of the building at an unknown date. Because of its small scale and its location at the rear, that addition does not affect the historical integrity of the building.
